Alabama's largest hospital system paused in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments on Wednesday after a court said frozen embryos were the legal equivalent of children.
The Alabama Supreme Court ruled on Friday that they can be considered children under state law—a decision that critics say could have sweeping implications for fertility treatment in the state.
The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) health system must evaluate whether its patients or doctors could face criminal charges or punitive damages for undergoing IVF treatments, a spokesperson said in a statement to Newsweek.
"We are saddened that this will impact our patients' attempt to have a baby through IVF, but we must evaluate the potential that our patients and our physicians could be prosecuted criminally or face punitive damages for following the standard of care for IVF treatments," the statement said.
The all-Republican court's decision said three couples could sue for wrongful death when their frozen embryos were destroyed in an accident at a storage facility, citing language in the Alabama Constitution that the state recognizes the "rights of the unborn child." The anti-abortion language was added to the Alabama Constitution by voters in 2018.
"Unborn children are 'children' under [Alabama's Wrongful Death of a Minor Act], without exception based on developmental stage, physical location, or any other ancillary characteristics," Justice Jay Mitchell wrote in Friday's majority ruling.
Mitchell said the court had previously ruled that a fetus killed when a woman is pregnant is covered under the Act and that neither the text of the Act nor the court's precedents exclude "extrauterine children from the Act's coverage."
In a concurring opinion, Alabama Chief Justice Tom Parker wrote that "even before birth, all human beings bear the image of God, and their lives cannot be destroyed without effacing his glory."
Doctors and patients in the state are now questioning how to proceed, and some say treating an embryo as a child could threaten IVF practices.
The UAB health system "has been forced to make an impossible decision: pause IVF procedures for those hoping to build their families, or put their patients and doctors at risk of prosecution," Barbara Collura, CEO of RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association, said in a statement provided to Newsweek.
"For those living with infertility and trying to build a family, a 'normal' IVF cycle is hard enough," Collura said.
"Would-be parents have invested their hearts, time and financial resources. Now, less than a week after the Alabama Supreme Court's devastating ruling, Alabamans in the midst of seeking treatment have had their lives, their hopes and dreams crushed. This cruel ruling, and the subsequent decision by UAB's health system, are horrifying signals of what's to come across the country."
Newsweek has previously reported on how the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade could have far-reaching consequences that go beyond regulating abortion and put IVF in jeopardy.
Experts said then that abortion bans that define life as beginning at the moment of fertilization, or "personhood laws" that give fertilized eggs, embryos and fetuses the same rights as those already born, could lead to penalties for discarding embryos and limit how many eggs can be fertilized per IVF cycle.
Collura told Newsweek at the time that because the goal of an IVF cycle is to create as many healthy embryos as possible, giving a person a greater chance at getting pregnant, restrictions would mean that eggs retrieved for IVF would need to be stored rather than used immediately to create multiple embryos, driving up the cost of IVF treatment.
Has your IVF treatment been affected by the Alabama Supreme Court's ruling? Get in touch by emailing k.rahman@newsweek.com.
Update 2/22/24, 9:21 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with more of the University of Alabama at Birmingham health system's statement.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Khaleda Rahman is Newsweek's Senior News Reporter based in London, UK. Her focus is reporting on abortion rights, race, education, ... Read more
